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Volume 103, Issue 2
" The Independent Student Voice of PCC, Serving Pasadena Since 1$ 15.'
Thursday, March 3, 2011
I,
Free speech exercise
Amber Lu
/
Courier
Lawrence Gandara, 22, English, carries a sign during the student protest against Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget cuts in
front of the C Building on Wednesday. Below, student BAMN organizer Caroline Wong leads protesters on a march around
campus to draw students' attention to the issues surrounding budget cuts.
Protesters decry impacts of budget
Sara Medina
Staff Writer
At least 50 students rallied in front of
the C Building on Wednesday as a "Day
of Action at PCC" to protest against Gov.
Jerry Brown's proposed budget cuts and
save public education.
Members of The Coalition to Defend
Affirmative Action, Integration &
Immigrants Rights and Fight for Equality
By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) stood
on top of the steps leading up to the C
Building and chanted "They say get
back" to which other members respond¬
ed, "We say fight back."
"We feel like this is a political attack on
the Master Plan that's being made by
Daniel Nerio
/
Courier
Gov. Brown," said BAMN organizer
Caroline Wong. "We feel like we have to
take a stand. Just because he's a
Democrat, we cannot sit back because it's
suicide to just not take a stand around
these things now. These cuts are deeper
than have been made before.
"Some people say that there is money
in funds here at the community college,"
Wong continued. "There is money, but
given the depth and severity of this
attack, there isn't enough money in these
different funds to make up for the kind
of cuts that are coming down the line."
Nicholas Smith, biology, is not a part of
BAMN and believed that the group's
concerns are more general whereas the
students' are more specific.
"I think the students have different
opinions," he said. "It's bound to hap¬
pen. Not everyone agrees on every¬
thing." Smith, who spoke at a College
Continued on page 11
Impending
cuts lead
to debate
Students, faculty and staff share
concerns with College Council
Amrah Khan
Managing Editor
Tensions ran high at meetings across campus as stu¬
dents, faculty and staff discussed a recommendation to
cut 248 summer, fall and spring class sections and move
the 2012 winter session.
"Sections will have to be reduced next year," said
PCC President Mark Rocha at the College Council
meeting Feb. 23, which had dozens of students in atten¬
dance. "We will be taking time needed over the next
month or two to make a decision [as to which sections
will be cut].'' -
This was a much different Related Story
/
sense of urgency than was previ- paqe 3
ously relayed to the Enrollment y
Management Committee. By law, -
PCC needs an adopted budget by June, but the EMC
was trying to recommend a budget-balancing proposal
as soon as possible.
Created by the PCC Board of Trustees in January, the
committee was tasked with examining a proposed
reduction of 600 sections in response to the potential
$5.3 million budget cut for the 2011-2012 academic year.
The committee voted at its third meeting to push forth
the recommendation to the College Council for further
review, after which the Council would forward the pro¬
posal to the Board.
A week prior to this vote, Associated Students
requested a list of data from the administration so it
could analyze the effects of the five presented scenarios.
The AS did not receive this information, so President
Jamie Hammond abstained from voting due to a lack of
quantifiable data.
Fashion major Ali Olign was one of seven students
who spoke at the council meeting. Frustrated with the
EMC for going forward without votes from student
representatives, Olign argued that the student voice
was being stifled.
Continued on page 10
President Rocha denies L.A. Times allegations
Sara Medina
Staff Writer
PCC President Mark Rocha on Monday
vehemently denied allegations made in a
Los Angeles Times article published on
Sunday at Monday's Academic Senate
meeting.
Rocha read a prepared statement at the
meeting.
"Suffice it to say here that the Times
reporting on West Los Angeles College is
utter nonsense," Rocha said.
The Times accused Rocha of spending
money irresponsibly by approving millions
of dollars in construction project upgrades
while serving as the president of the already
financially struggling West L.A. College.
"Through his lawyer," the Times report¬
ed, "Rocha said he did not approve any
project unilaterally and rejected what he
said were efforts to blame him for over¬
spending."
The district claims that LACCD's
Building Program is one of the most "heav¬
ily audited and examined in the history of
public construction, has been found over
and over again to be well-managed, careful
with taxpayer dollars, and committed to
innovative management and reducing
impacts on the environment."
The article also alleges that Rocha
"helped his wife land a job" with Jacobs
Facilities, Inc., a contractor at another col¬
lege within the Los Angeles Community
College District.
During the Monday meeting, Rocha read
the statement that was handed out then
spoke on the matter.
"[LACCD] has made a long response that
basically says the article is misleading," he
said. "You cannot move the college forward
unless you're in a completely open environ¬
ment."
Continued on page 9
Anthony Richetts
/
Courier
PCC President Mark Rocha addresses the
Academic Senate on Monday.